Bizarre details of Danton case unfold in CBC report

Former St. Louis Blues player Mike Danton wants a federal judge to reconsider a 7½-year prison sentence he got for plotting to kill his agent.

Danton

He has not been transferred to prison in his native Canada, as he says he was promised. In papers filed Nov. 18 in U.S. District Court, Danton, who is now imprisoned in Fort Dix, N.J., asked Judge William Stiehl to order a new sentencing and free him in the meantime.

The news comes as more bizarre details of the murder-for-hire unfolded. Taped jailhouse recordings between Danton and his agent David Frost have been released as part of an investigative report that aired Wednesday night on "CBC: the fifth estate." In the recordings, Frost apparently tells Danton to deny that the agent was the target of the murder and to blame his parents for his troubles.

The 25-year-old forward pleaded guilty in July 2004 to murder conspiracy charges related to what prosecutors said was his failed plot to kill Frost.

The tapes also reveal a strange conversation, taped by the FBI in the spring of 2004. Frost told Danton to "show emotion" so he could make the claim for psychiatric counseling and to deny that he owed Frost money. According to the tapes obtained by the CBC show, that conversation ended with this exchange:

"Hey, Mike. Listen ... do I have to worry about my safety any more?" Frost said.

Danton replied: "No, you don't. I got to go."

"Okay, do you love me?" Frost asked. Danton said "yes."

Frost replied: "Say it."

Danton said: "I love you."

Frost: "Do you?"

Danton: "Yeah."

While Frost has repeatedly denied that he was the target of the murder-for-hire plot, the CBC show reportedly shows evidence that Frost was indeed the focus. Prosecutors have also said that Danton offered $10,000 to have Frost killed. Danton pleaded guilty in July 2004 to murder conspiracy charges and was sentenced to 7½ years in prison the following November.

When Danton was sentenced, federal prosecutors agreed not to oppose deportation. Danton wants surgery in Canada for a shoulder injury and therapy for what his sentencing request calls his "grave mental disorders."

According to Danton's resentencing request, the Justice Department hasn't decided whether to allow him to leave the country despite his claims that "similarly situated applicants have been approved for removal to their home nations, which include Canada."

Messages left Wednesday with the U.S. Attorney's office, which prosecuted Danton, and the Justice Department were not immediately returned.